Prince Carloman of West Francia

Prince Carloman of West Francia (850-877) was the youngest son of King Charles the Bald of West Francia and Ermentrude of Orleans.

Biography
Carloman was born in 850, and was the son of King Charles the Bald of West Francia and his wife Ermentrude of Orleans. He was meant for a religious life, with his head tonsured (shaven bald on the top) at the age of six. His father wanted to avoid partitioning his kingdom by having his younger sons sent to study religion rather than become heirs. In 860 he became a deacon, but in 866 he became second-in-line to the throne after the deaths of his relatives Lothaire the Lame and Charles III of Aquitaine, and by 870 he had an aristocratic following, mainly from Flanders and Lotharingia. He rebelled against his father and tried to claim a part of the kingdom as his inheritance, so he was arrested and imprisoned at Senlis, and his abbacies were forfeited. Pope Hadrian II wanted to secure his release, but he escaped to Flanders and gathered a small army. All of his followers were excommunicated, and Carloman was re-tried and blinded in 873, but escaped to the care of his uncle Ludwig II of East Francia rather than be imprisoned. He died in 877.